Facts about Dutch

• In the European Union, Dutch is spoken as a first language by about 22 million people, a figure that includes most of the population of the Netherlands as well as around 60% of Belgium’s population. It is also a second language to about 5 million people.
• The Cape Dutch dialects of Southern Africa have evolved into Afrikaans, a daughter language that is mutually intelligible and spoken to some extent by around 16 million people in South Africa and Namibia.
• Pennsylvania Dutch refers to a group of German-speaking immigrants to Pennsylvania. They speak a dialect of German, and in this context the word ‘Dutch’ does not denote the people of the Netherlands, but ‘Deutsch’ (i.e. German).
• Dutch pronunciation is infamously tricky. Your pronunciation of Dutch words, e.g. Scheveningen, tells native speakers whether or not Dutch is really your mother tongue. This was the downfall of more than one German spy during WWII.
• The longest Dutch word is kindercarnavalsoptochtvoorbereidingswerkzaamhedenplan, which contains 53 letters and means ‘preparation activities schedule for a children’s carnival procession’. Another popular one is hottentottententententoonstellingsterrein, which has 41 letters and means ‘exhibition ground for Hottentot tents’.
• The most important word in Dutch might just be gezellig. This word has no perfect literal translation in English or many other languages. Situations, people and places can all be gezellig – it’s an adjective, the noun being gezelligheid. If something is gezellig, it is familiar, warm, friendly, cosy, and jovial. For example, enjoying a cosy dinner with old friends in one of your favourite quaint, little restaurants with some tasty food and wine is gezellig.